Parisian man lived in 1.5sq.m flat during 15 years

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS: Workers from a homeless charity have found a man living in a flat in Paris that is less than the size of a single bed - just 1.56 square meters.

As reports Armenpress referring to Itar-Tass, 50-year-old man had been living in the “flat” for 15 years and was paying €330 a month in rent.

The tiny flat was under the eaves of the property and there was only room for a tiny mattress, a sink and a single cooking hotplate.

The man said: “I return home and I sleep. With the slope there’s only 20cm where you can stand up. You cannot live like that, you just survive. But at the end of the day, you say it’s that or the street.”

A fellow tenant persuaded him to approach Fondation Abbé Pierre who said the flat was illegal. The prefect ordered that it be shut.

In the meantime, Parisian man is waiting a court judgment later this month to oblige his landlord to rehouse him in a flat “adapted to his needs”.

Legally, the minimum size of a flat for rent is 9sq.m for the main living area, with a minimum 2.2m under the ceiling. The total volume must be more than 20 cubic meters. Smaller flats can be rented as holiday rentals or second homes – but local housing regulations apply; in Paris, that is a minimum 7sq.m of floor space.

Landlords who rent such tiny flats face paying a tax that is based on the rent charged per square meter, and taxes anything over €40 per square meter.